Playing four matches in the last five days, the Cerritos College men's tennis team finished off their last opponent, but not without a battle. Posting 9-0 team scores in their first six wins of the season, the Falcons (7-1) went toe-to-toe with NCAA Division III opponent Whittier College on Saturday. Cerritos opened with three close wins in doubles and then split the six singles matches to post a 6-3 win. The team will now host Saddleback College at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
Opening up with doubles, freshmen Aleks Trifunovic (Katrinelunds Gymnasium, Sweden) and James Zhang (Shenzhen Luohu Foreign Language School, China) posted an 8-4 win to get the day started, while the pairing of sophomores Agustin Lombardi (E.S.D.S., Argentina) and Mark Antoniuk (W. 124 School, Russia) earned an 8-5 win.
In the #1 doubles match, freshman Oleksandr Krasnov (School 106, Ukraine) and Nikita Katsnelson (Odessa Gymnasium No. 1, Ukraine) led 7-6 and 8-7, but were unable to break to win. They jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the tie-breaker, but a pair of points by the Poets closed that lead to 6-5. On their next serve, the Ukrainians were able to put the match away and give the Falcons a commanding 3-0 team lead heading into singles.
A minor adjustment to the lineup due to a nagging injury to Trifunovic, caused a chain reaction at the bottom of the singles ladder. By the time it could affect the outcome of the match, Cerritos had posted straight set wins at the top of the ladder to secure the team victory.
Krasnov (6-3, 6-3), Katsnelson (6-3, 6-2) and Lombardi (6-2, 6-2) finished off Whittier College. Moving up to the #4 position, Zhang split the first two sets with Sean Jardinici, 5-7, 7-6. He led 5-2 in the first set, but let it slip away and went on to drop a 10-7 decision in the third set tie-breaker. The second set also went to a tie-breaker, with Zhang coming away with a 7-4 decision.
Oleksandr Krasnov (CERR) def. Andrew You (WC), 6-3, 6-3
Nikita Katsnelson (CERR) def. Samuel Farmer (WC), 6-3, 6-2
Agustin Lombardi (CERR) def. Tyler Linscott (WC), 6-2, 6-2
Sean Jardinici (WC) def. James Zhang (CERR), 7-5, 6-7, 10-7
David Stano (WC) def. Mark Antoniuk (CERR), 6-3, 7-5
Emilio Yera (WC) def. Edgar Munoz (CERR), 7-6, 6-3
DOUBLES
Oleksandr Krasnov/Nikita Katsnelson (CERR) def. Andrew You/Samuel Frazier (WC), 9-8
Aleks Trifunovic/James Zhang (CERR), def. Troy Chacez/Tyler Linscott (WC), 8-4
Agustin Lombardi/Mark Antoniuk (CERR) def. Sean Jardinici/Emilio Yera (WC), 8-5
